JP2000255237A - Axle suspension - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an axle suspension reducing unsprung weight, being excellent in engine maintainability, and using a link mechanism of parallel links. SOLUTION: This sprung axle type suspension has a link mechanism 20 of parallel links comprising a combination of a U-shaped torsion beam 21 having its middle portion 22 disposed in front of an engine and secured to a bracket 12 attached to a frame portion in front of the engine, with both sides 22 of the beam 21 extending rearward and secured to spring seats 6 on both sides of an axle 4 along the cross direction of the vehicle, and a rod 25 extending parallel to both sides 22 of the torsion beam 21 and connected between the bracket 21 and the spring seats 6. The weighty middle portion 22 of the torsion beam 21 is thereby supported by a frame 1 to simultaneously reduce the unsprung weight of an air suspension and reduce obstructive portions from beneath the frame 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an axle suspension type suspension for restricting axle movement by a link mechanism using a torsion beam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a truck (vehicle), a front axle is suspended using an air spring in order to obtain a comfortable ride. In this suspension structure, spring seats are formed on both sides in the vehicle width direction of a front axle disposed along a vehicle width direction below a truck frame and an engine mounted on the frame. A structure in which an air spring is mounted between a spring seat and a frame is used.

[0003] In such a suspension that uses an air spring to suspend an axle, the support rigidity of the air spring is low.
A link mechanism that positions the axle in the vehicle width direction is combined.

[0004] By the way, a truck is required to have a function of suppressing the roll of the vehicle body, like other vehicles.

Therefore, as an axle positioning mechanism,
A link mechanism also serving as a stabilizer is used to restrict the movement of the front axle while obtaining an anti-roll effect.

More specifically, for example, German Patent DE1962
A link mechanism as shown in 4242 is used.

The U-shaped torsion beam has an intermediate portion rotatably fixed between the spring seats, and has a U-shaped torsion beam fixed to a bracket attached to a frame portion extending forward of the front axle on both sides. The torsion beam is formed by a pair of parallel link mechanisms in which a rod member parallel to both side portions of the torsion beam and a rod member rotatably connected between the bracket and the spring seat are combined. And a pair of parallel link mechanisms on both sides in the vehicle width direction,
At the same time as positioning the front axle, the anti-roll effect is selected by utilizing the displacement of one member of the parallel link mechanism, that is, the torsion beam.

[0008]

However, since a truck using such a suspension is generally structured such that a cabin is mounted on the upper part of a front axle, the front suspension has a performance that provides a comfortable ride as good as possible. Desired. Moreover, since the truck has a structure in which the engine is mounted on the upper portion of the front axle, it is required that there is no obstacle at the lower portion of the engine so that the engine can be properly maintained from the lower side of the frame.

However, German Patent DE 196 24 424
In the structure where the middle part of the torsion beam is fixed between the spring seats as in 2, the weight of the heavy (large weight ratio) middle part of the torsion beam is
Because it is added to the front axle, the unsprung weight is heavy, and vibrations are likely to be input to the frame during traveling, which tends to impair ride comfort.

[0010] The intermediate portion of the torsion beam connected between the spring seats is substantially parallel to the front axle and passes under the engine along the vehicle width direction. Become. Therefore, the maintainability of the engine was not good.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an axle suspension type suspension using a link mechanism which is excellent in reduction of unsprung load and engine maintainability. .

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an axle suspension type suspension, wherein a link mechanism is rotatable on a frame portion in front of the engine with an intermediate portion disposed in front of the engine. U-shaped torsion beam fixed to each spring seat on each side of the axle in the vehicle width direction, and a U-shaped torsion beam parallel to both sides of this torsion beam and a spring in front of the engine. A structure in which a rod member rotatably connected to the seat is combined.

As a result, the heavy intermediate portion (having a large weight ratio) of the torsion beam can be supported by the frame, so that the weight of the intermediate portion does not need to be added to the axle, and the unsprung weight is reduced accordingly. The ride will be improved. In addition, since the middle portion of the torsion beam is disposed in front of the engine, a portion obstructing the engine maintenance work from the lower side of the engine (frame) is reduced from the lower side of the engine (frame), thereby improving the maintainability of the engine. Is achieved.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 1 shows, for example, a front wheel P of a truck (vehicle).
FIG. 1 shows an axle suspension type suspension, in which 1 is a frame of a truck. The frame 1 is formed in a ladder shape having a pair of side frames 2 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction.

At the front (front side) of the frame 1, an engine 3 is mounted so as to fit between the side frames 2.
Is installed. A front axle 4 (axle: axle) is inserted below the frame 1 on which the engine 3 is mounted, below the engine 3 and below the side frame 2 along the vehicle width direction. The front wheels P are connected via knuckles (not shown) to the respective ends of the front axle 4 projecting from the side frames 2 in the vehicle width direction.

A seat mounting seat (not shown) is formed on each upper surface of the front axle 4 corresponding to the lower side of each side frame 2. A spring seat member 5 is fastened to each of these seat mounting seats by bolts (not shown), and a spring seat 6 is formed in the same portion. An air spring 7 is attached between the spring seat 6 and a side frame portion immediately above the spring seat 6 to support the front axle 4. Reference numeral 8 denotes a bracket for fixing the air spring 7 to the side frame 2.

A rod support 9 is integrally formed at the front end of each spring seat member 5 on the vehicle. Each of the rod supporting portions 9 has, for example, a shape having two types of forked rod end receiving portions 9a and 9b that face upward and downward, respectively. Further, a support pin 10 for a shock absorber protrudes from an outer side portion of each rod support portion 9 in the vehicle width direction. A shock absorber 11 is connected between each of the shock absorber support pins 10 and a side frame portion immediately above the shock absorber support pin 10, and is combined with the air spring 7 to form the front axle 4 and the front wheel P.
Is suspended.

On the other hand, a pair of rod supporting brackets 12 are mounted on the lower surface of each side frame portion in front of the engine so as to protrude downward. Each of the rod supporting brackets 12 has, for example, a rectangular cylindrical rod supporting portion 13 that opens in the vehicle front-rear direction at a position directly below the side frame 2, and a bearing holder portion 14 is provided below the rod supporting portion 13. Is formed. In addition, the bearing 15 is built in each bearing holder portion 14 so that the axial direction is directed to the vehicle width direction.

A link mechanism 20 (also serving as a stabilizer) using a parallel link, which is a main part of the present invention, is mounted between the rod supporting bracket 12 and the spring seat 6.

The link mechanism 20 has a U-shaped torsion beam 21. This torsion beam 21
The intermediate portion is formed of, for example, a tube member 22, and both side portions are formed of a pair of vertical wall-shaped arms 23 connected to both end portions of the tube member 22.

The both ends of the tube member 22 of the torsion beam 21 are connected to the rod supporting brackets 1.
The second bearing holder 14 is rotatably supported by a bearing. As a result, the tube member 2 providing a twisting action
2 is arranged in the vehicle width direction in front of the engine and supported by the frame 1.

Each arm 23 of the torsion beam 21
It extends to the rod support 9 at the rear (in the direction in which the engine 3 and the axle 4 are located). An eyeball portion 23a formed at the tip of each arm 23 is connected to a rod end receiving portion 9b below each rod support portion 9 by a pin 24 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction.

On the upper side of each arm 23, an arm 23 is provided.
And a swing arm 25 that is parallel to the swing arm 25. Each swing arm 25 has an eyeball portion 25a formed at both ends thereof in the vehicle width direction. An eyeball portion 25a on the front side in the vehicle front-rear direction is rotatably supported in the vertical direction by a pin 26 inside the rod support portion 13 of each rod support bracket 12. In addition, the center part 25a on each rear side
Is connected to a rod end receiving portion 9a above each rod supporting portion 9 by a pin 27 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. As a result, the swing arm 25 is formed as an upper rod and the arm 23 is formed as a lower rod between the pair of left and right rod supporting brackets 12 in front of the engine and the pair of spring seats 6 on the left and right of the front axle 4. And a pair of left and right (both sides in the vehicle width direction) parallel link mechanism.

The front axle 4 is provided by the link mechanism 20 supported by the frame portion in front of the engine.
(Mainly restricting the movement in the vehicle longitudinal direction), and at the same time, an anti-roll effect is provided by utilizing the displacement of one member of the parallel link mechanism, that is, the torsion beam 21.

A reference numeral 28 is arranged rearward of the front axle 4 along the vehicle width direction, one end is connected to one side of the spring seat member 5, and the other end is arranged on the opposite side to the spring seat member 5. 1 shows a lateral rod connected to and attached to a side frame 2 (mainly restricting movement of a front axle 4 in a vehicle width direction).

The link mechanism 20 of such an axle suspension type suspension has a structure in which a particularly heavy (large weight ratio) tube member 22 (intermediate portion) of the torsion beam 21 is supported by the frame 1. The positioning of the front axle 4 can be performed without adding the weight of the member 22.

Therefore, the unsprung weight of the axle suspension suspension can be reduced, and the riding comfort of the truck can be improved. And torsion beam 2
By disposing the first tube member 22 in front of the engine, a portion obstructing the maintenance work from below the frame 1 is reduced from below the engine 3 (frame). The performance is improved.

In the embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to the front suspension of a truck has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to a front suspension such as a bus or a rear suspension.

[0030]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to realize an axle suspension type suspension using a parallel link mechanism which is excellent in reduction of unsprung load and engine maintainability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a structure of an axle suspension suspension according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Frame 3 ... Engine 4 ... Front axle (axle) 5 ... Spring seat member 6 ... Spring seat 7 ... Air spring 9 ... Rod supporting part 12 ... Rod supporting bracket 20 ... Parallel link link mechanism 21 ... Torsion beam 22 ... Tube Member (intermediate part) 23: Vertical arm (side part).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An axle inserted along a vehicle width direction below a frame of a vehicle and an engine mounted on the frame, and spring seats are formed on both sides of the axle in the vehicle width direction. An axle suspension type suspension in which an air spring is attached between each of the spring seats and the frame to support the frame and restrict the movement of the axle by a link mechanism; U-shaped torsion beams are disposed along the vehicle width direction in front of the engine and rotatably fixed to a frame portion in front of the engine, and both sides extend rearward and are fixed to the respective spring seats. Pivotable between the frame part in front of the engine and the spring seat in parallel with both sides Axle suspension type suspension, characterized in that it is constituted by combining the concatenated rod member.